Leaving
by MuchTooOld
Summary: Korra's a failure. She's let everyone down, especially herself. She's leaving to the South Pole and Mako sees her off. Based off of the Korra trailer with the kiss ;
1. Chapter 1

A cold wind blows, gently brushing Korra's hair across her face. She impatiently shoves it back to its proper as she looks at her friend Mako standing a few feet away from her. She knew why he's here. He's here to keep her from leaving. She guesses Tenzin thinks that a friend will be more persuasive than he was. But he was wrong. Nothing could keep her at the place where she was a failure. She had to leave.

"Korra, you don't have to go," he says.

Korra rolls her eyes. "You know I do. I'm not… needed here," she mutters. She turns to leave, Naga already on the boat.

All of a sudden, he's close to her. He grabs her arm and makes her face him. She could easily pull away. For all he could boast in fighting prowess, she easily had him topped in strength. But she liked being so close to him. She might as well enjoy it she thought, this is going to be the last time you can.

He's looking in her eyes, trying to find some sort of lack of resolve, but all he's met with is Korra's determined eyes. Determined even in their defeat.

"But me and Bolin…" he began.

She interrupts. "Will do fine without me. You got that far in the league without me, I'm sure there's some other water-bending prodigy who will fill my place."

"But we don't want another waterbender," he growls. "We want you."

She begins to back away. Doesn't he get just how badly she's screwed up? "I can't."

"What kind of Avatar are you if you're just going to run away?" he demands. She notes his old arguing tricks. He's very good at goading her. He always got her to go harder in practice when she thought he doubted her power. It wasn't going to work this time though. She didn't need him to tell her she was failing, she was well aware of that fact herself.

"One who follows in her predecessor's footsteps," she declares with a smirk.

Mako deflates after that. She doesn't like to see him so sad, but she knows he knows that she's not going to be swayed. She's going, and nothing will convince her otherwise.

"But Korra…" he mumbles. He's not looking at her.

She thinks that this is going to be the last time to see him. She didn't like that thought, but it was a fact. She hopes he knows how much safer they'll all be without her. Asami won't ever be threatened with death threats and people won't try to sabotage her father's factories, and the fabulous bending brothers wouldn't be threatened by people trying to get to her. It was a win situation for them. She had failed everyone else, but she would at least try and save her friends.

He's still not looking at her. She doesn't want to say goodbye. But she's got to. But she's not good with words, so she simply decides to kiss him. There wouldn't be any awkwardness later, she'd be gone, so what the hell.

She leans in and kisses him on the lips. She doesn't know this, but his eyes are wide open. She pulls away just as they begin to close.

He looks so confused. It's cute. She gives him a salute and then runs onto the boat. It almost had left without her. Avatar or not, they had places to be.

By the time Mako recovers his senses, she's gone, and he's left alone on the dock with nothing more than the memory of her and her kiss.

He slumps to the ground. He's trying to figure out if that really just happened. Did she really just kiss him, the thing he had kind of wanted to do to her for months? And did she really just leave, the thing that everyone and their pet had counted on him to keep her from doing? Tenzin had told him how much she needed to be here. He was going to be so mad. And Peema the kids were going to hate him for failing. Bolin wouldn't be mad at him, he'd just be sad. Korra, after his brother, was his best friend. Mako thought that was going to be the worst of all.

He looks back at the island and sees the faint lights of the compound as everyone waits for the two to return. He feels a swelling rush of anger towards Korra. How dare she just get up and leave everyone? And they were all counting on her! He didn't want to admit he was also a little bit more than angry that she had kissed him and not even given him a chance to respond.

He begins the long walk back to the airbenders' home. When he arrives he's a bit confused. None of them are mad, Bolin's even smiling. He's very grateful, but he's very confused on the why.

Then he notices they're all packed. And there's the familiar growl of Tenzin's bison. A small smile forms on his lips.

She wasn't getting away that easily.


	2. Chapter 2

Mako has decided he does not like flying. Bolin seems to have grown accustomed to it and Asami is used to it as she owned a private zeppelin herself and Tenzin was also fine, but Mako did not like being this high up in the air.

He also did not like the cold. He had thought the winters in Republic City were bad. It was supposedly spring here, and it was still mind-numbingly cold. He had no idea how Bolin and Asami hadn't frozen to death by now. At least he had the constant fire burning through his veins. He pulls his coat closer to him and grumbles. The things he is willing to do for this woman. Stupid Avatar with her stupid running away and kiss.

He hadn't talked much this trip. He, unlike Asami and Bolin, who had been theorizing different ways to get her back to the city the whole trip, really had no idea how they were going to get Korra to come back to Republic City after the whole Avatar State fiasco. She felt awful, the Equalists had gained so much momentum from it, and it was just not a good day.

But they needed her, she had to come back to help get the city in balance. He doesn't like to admit that he needs her back too. Just because he does.

Tenzin warns them that they're almost there. Mako wakes out of his revere and looks over Oogi to see Korra's home. The White Lotus compound was impressive. The entire thing, except for a small section was obviously made for bending. The tall snow walls somehow managed to blend into their surroundings and still be imposing. It was also a bit lonely. The nearest village was a few miles away. He wonders how the boisterous, friendly girl ever managed to survive being so far from people.

The compound is more impressive up close. Their party slides off of Oogi's back. The three teenagers nearly crashes to the ground in their haste to see their friend. Tenzin is much more graceful in his descent. He slowly descends to the ground and looks towards the compound. A lone figure is approaching them.

Mako is expecting a giant man, possibly one of Korra's trainers. He is not expecting the small old lady standing in front of him. Bolin is about to comment when Tenzin greets her as mother. Bolin looks highly embarrassed. Mako and Asami smile at his awkwardness.

"I suppose you're here for Korra," the old woman assumes. Her voice is stately, he hangs on to her words, even though they're not important. There's also sadness in her voice that Mako can't quite place.

"Yes, Mother," Tenzin solemnly states. Mako wonders if he ever gets tired of speaking so calmly. Korra had told him about the times he had lost his temper, but he never really believed the calm airbender even had a temper.

Tenzin's mother sighed, "I'm afraid she isn't here."

Bolin collapsed face down in the snow. Asami erupted, "Old lady, what do you mean she's NOT here? We just flew thousands of miles to find her!" Mako, who had hung his head in exasperation, looks over at her in surprise. It was rare that Asami discarded her manners. For the first time it dawns on him that he's not the only one who's missed her.

"That's Master Katara—" Tenzin near-shouts. His face grows to an interesting shade of red. He notes that Korra was telling the truth, Tenzin could get angry.

Katara chuckled. "It's Gran-Gran to you." The three looked at her in surprise. Asami was blushing a deep red from her outburst. Katara glanced over at her. "Don't be embarrassed, Asami. It's refreshing to have someone yell at me." Her eyes sort of lose focus for a minute, "Reminds me of a friend I once had."

Asami looks up suspiciously, her embarrassment forgotten. "How do you know my name?"

Katara looks mildly puzzled. "Korra told me about her friend Asami. As you are the first woman friend she has ever had, I can only assume it's you." The three are quiet for a moment. Mako smiles, at least she hadn't forgotten them.

Bolin looks up from his spot in the snow. "Gran-Gran," he hesitantly mutters.

She looks kindly down at him. "Yes… Bolin is it?"

He nods. He more confidently continues, "Do you know where Korra is?"

Katara smiles and nods. Mako's focuses in. He will run and get this woman if he has to. She had to know she didn't just get to get up and leave everything like she had.

"She's home." Tenzin looks a bit taken aback, Mako wonders why.

"Home, home?" he asks a bit quietly.

Katara nods. "When she came back she refused to move back to the compound. It's not like any of us had a chance in forcing her to stay here anymore, so we had to let her." The three teenagers were very confused at this exchange. They thought they were at Korra's home.

Tenzin sighed, "Well, we have to go and find her. Where is her parent's home?"

Mako's eyes widened. Her parents? He had never thought of her as someone with parents. She never talked about them, although now that he thought about it… she had never said she _didn't_ have parents. For some reason this was a strange concept for him to grasp. He saw that Asami and Bolin were equally confused.

"I'm going to see her right now; you may come if you like."

She turned towards Oogi and with a few arm movements created a snow staircase up to the bison's back. The group stared at each other in silence for a minute before hurrying after her. Soon they were flying again and Mako's stomach clenched up. He pretends it's from flying, but he does note that it gets tighter the closer they get to a small village miles away.


	3. Chapter 3

"We should leave Oogi here and go on foot," Katara says as they near the village. Mako lets out a groan along with Asami and Bolin. None of them were particularly fond of snow. Asami had said she didn't mind the cold, but the wet cold stuff was unacceptable. Bolin and Mako had had their share of trudging through the snow when they were kids. Mako starts to protest, but as usual it seemed, he is ignored as Tenzin lowers Oogi to the ground.

Bolin mutinously mutters something about 'momma's boy,' as they all pile off the bison. Mako looks over at Tenzin. He is in deep conversation with his mother. Asami and Bolin also notice this and they inch over to overhear the conversation. They don't go unnoticed. Katara and Tenzin look over at the three. Tenzin scowls and Katara smiles. Mako wonders how these two can be related. "I was just telling my son why we can't fly into her village."

"Which is?" Bolin grumpily mutters.

Mako slaps his brother on the back of the head. No need to be rude just because they were all annoyed with snow. "Korra's village is very… protective of her. We can't just swoop in, or they will never even let us get near her."

"I think we could take them," Asami says with confidence. "I mean, we've got a master of each element and me. How much of a threat could a few people be?"

Tenzin shakes his head. "We technically have three masters who can work their element." Bolin looks for a minute as if he'll be insulted, but then just nods in agreement. "And you don't understand. Her home may be small, but the few that live there are all skilled fighters. Waterbenders and nonbenders alike could easily beat us."

The three teenagers look at each other with disbelief. It's hard to buy this, especially since the three of them had learned to take down dozens of Equalists easily.

An hour later, in the center of a small grouping of igloos they were regretting their thoughts. Mako hadn't even noticed the men in the snow behind him before he was taken down by a boomerang and a piece of rope. Asami and Bolin's wrists had been locked together with ice and then forced to the ground. Tenzin and Katara fared better. But Mako secretly suspects that that was just because they had surrendered peacefully.

Mako struggles against his bonds. He tries burning through them, but a waterbender stood by to douse anything he even tries to do. He grumbles and curses under his breath, unhappily waiting for whatever they were going to send his way next. Katara is humming under her breath. Bolin and Asami had probably decided she was crazy, and at the moment, Mako isn't that far from that conclusion himself.

Soon there are two people in front of them, a woman with a face that would probably be described as kind if she wasn't scowling and man who would've looked comforting if he hadn't settled on a fierce frown. "What are these people doing here, Sifu Katara?" the man asks.

Katara smiles graciously at him, "Tornaq, they are just her just here to visit your daughter, nothing more."

The couple looks at them curiously for a moment, then Mako feels the ice slide through the rope tying his hands together and sees the ice turn back to water and set Asami and Bolin apart. They all rub their wrists together as they try to massage the warmth back into them. They're not as focused as they would've been on the pain because they're all staring at Korra's father before them.

If Mako had thought of Korra as someone with parents before this trip, this man would probably have fit his idea of the man who had helped create his friend. He was tall and muscular and had a fierce look in his eyes, like Korra when she was angry. He carried himself like her too, or rather, she carried herself like him. But behind all this anger, there seemed to be a man who laughed easily and had a riotous sense of humor, like Korra.

The woman draws their attention next. "Our daughter said she did not want visitors, Sifu. You of all people should respect that!" Her mother is beautiful. Korra has her eyes and face. She's angry now, and Korra seems to have inherited her mother's angry pout. But there's a kindness and openness hidden away behind the fury that Korra probably got from her as well.

"Senna, Tornaq, do you think if I honestly thought that Korra would be saddened to see them that I would have brought them here?" Katara says softly.

The two look at each other. They turn to Katara and bow. "We are sorry, Sifu Katara," Senna murmurs. Katara nods over to the other four of her party. They give a small bow of respect to Tenzin and a nod in the general direction of the three teenagers. Mako tries to not be too offended.

The rest of the village takes this as their cue to disappear. He can hear mutterings of variants of "If they cause problems, we'll be there." Korra's parents are talking to Katara. She is motioning to them and Korra's parents' very sense of bearing seems to change. Even from a distance they seem much more approachable. They looked over at the triad of teenagers and then at Tenzin. He nods. The three teenagers once again inch towards them to try and hear the conversation. They are again caught. Mako starts to question their stealth ability if people can hear their footsteps in powder.

Korra's mother walks over to them and stops in front of them. They brace themselves for some sort of verbal attack, and are astounded when she breaks into a sly smile that reminds Mako uncomfortably of Korra's. "I'm sorry about that. But we weren't sure who you were. Many people have tried to come here claiming to be one of Korra's friends. But Sifu Katara has informed us that you really do know her."

They nod, not entirely certain how to handle this personality shift. Mako had long ago made up his mind that those who can control water are the most tempermental people out there.

She then shocks them further by coming closer and grasping their hands one by one and introducing herself. "I'm Senna. And this is my husband, Tornaq." The tall man walks over to them and smiles, transforming his face into the comforting one Mako had suspected was more natural to him.

Instead of shaking their hands, he simply gathers them into a group hug. This is another oddly disconcerting reminder of Korra. He then lets them go, but keeps them close to him. "So you three are the friends my daughter has told me so much about?" The three are still trying to work this new personality into their initial quick judgment of him. He gives them a smile. "Are you here to take her away from me again?"

Asami hesitantly nods, not sure if this will bring out the mean Tornaq they had so unhappily just encountered. He gives them another smile, but there's a hint of sadness in this one that the bigger man is trying not to show, "Well good, she's just been sulking ever since she came back."

Then the couple leads the group into the small hut that they called home. Like Korra's parents, Mako had never really thought of Korra as someone who had a normal house. The White Lotus Compound seems to fit his idea of where she would live much more than this homey, warm house.

Senna bustles around and Katara followers her, discussing various things about Korra. Mako tried to listen, but Bolin and Asami were pestering Tornaq with questions about Korra and how she was doing and how she was feeling, ect... and he couldn't hear Katara and Senna's much more in depth and more helpful conversation. He settles on inspecting the small space they were gathered in. He sees little bits of evidence of Korra everywhere: a shoe, a hair clip, his… scarf. He stares at the long lost article in disbelief. He had blamed Pabu for the disappearance of his scarf, and here it was, safely deposited in the South Pole. He was all at once touched and annoyed. He walks over to grab it.

It's placed by a small radio. He happens to look up at the wall as he bends down to grab _his _scarf. It's covered with small newspaper clippings of the Fire Ferrets and little articles mentioning Korra. Some are years old. He clutches his scarf as he examines the wall.

It is mind boggling to him that Korra had parents like this, parents who pinned up everything and anything that mentioned her, parents that would attack the world's only master airbender, their old teacher, and three unassuming teens just to keep their daughters privacy. He stars wondering why she would ever leave them.

He's so lost in his revere that he doesn't hear the front door creak open and the heavy footsteps of the Avatar abruptly halt as she takes in the surprising amount of people in her house. He doesn't notice her until she marches over to him, yanks off his scarf and angrily yells, "This is mine!"

His scarf is yanked out of his hands and he turns and faces the livid teen. This is so much different than the last time they saw each other. She's not sad anymore; in fact she looks about ready to take on the world and then some. He's about to angrily retort, that no, in fact, that scarf is his, and she stole it when she ran away. But his retort his cut off before it can even begin as Asami tackles her friend in a hug and Bolin rushes towards the two girls, gathering them into an even bigger hug.

Mako finds himself being dragged in, finding himself frighteningly close to Korra. He wonders what she'll do. He at first figures that she'll simply toss them off and storm away. He's pleasantly surprised when she returns their hug, with the first smile he's seen from her in months. He likes to note that her arm was touching his back, even though it was a bit awkward for the hug.


	4. Chapter 4

They gather around Korra's small dinner table as her mother places small plates of food in front of them. They look at the small plates of food in front of them with mild looks of surprise. For some reason, Mako thought that the Avatar's house would be stocked full of food. Korra ate enough usually for ten people.

Senna smiled apologetically, "If we had known there would be company, we would've hunted some more." Tonraq smiles and looks over at Tenzin who stared at his very small platter of stale greens. "And we would've bought some more food down at the dock for you, Master Tenzin."

Asami pips up, her forgotten manners finding her again as they entered the world of dinner etiquette, "No, this is lovely. It's so kind of you to invite us here for dinner without us sending word we were coming." She continues smiling as she takes a bite out of the food. They all stare at her, and decide since Asami hasn't spit up the food, it must be safe to eat. Mako wonders why Korra's looking at him in a slightly amused way.

When he almost chokes on the sea prunes, he realizes why. How the hell did Asami manage to get them to go down? He figures it is through the sheer desire of not wanting to offend her hosts. Bolin eats them, but his brother has always been able to get anything down if he was hungry enough.

The table conversation is relaxed for quite a while. Her parents ask them questions and even manage to get Tenzin to joke a little bit. Korra laughs and chatters with the rest of them. But they all skirt around the subject of what will happen when tomorrow comes. Because they didn't have that much time to be in the South Pole, they needed to return soon to try and help calm Repulic City, and they needed Korra to come with them. Mako doesn't like to admit that he needs her to come back with them because he just wants her around again… and she needs to explain why she kissed him. That was still confusing him.

Tenzin and Katara finally broach the subject. This just causes Korra to stand up and give a decisive "No," and leave the room. Senna and Tonraq go after her, trying to get their daughter to see sense. Tenzin and Katara withdraw to another room to discuss her. He was angry. If these people who loved her so much were willing to admit that she had to leave them, why couldn't she? Mako glares after her.

Asami puts her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, calm down, we'll get her to change her mind."

"Yeah… and Amon is going to like benders and stop his whole revolution," Mako mutters. Bolin tries to stifle a laugh. He doesn't quite succeed and Asami glares at him.

"We just have to go at this from the right angle," she tells them. "Why don't you go talk to her Mako? You two got pretty close before she left."

Mako's stomach does a double back flip and lands at an awkward angle. "Uh… Why don't you go talk to her? You're a girl. She's a girl…"

Asami's face is blank. "You're point?" she says flatly.

"It might be easier?"

Bolin shakes her head, "Just go talk to her later tonight, what's the big deal?"

Mako looks down at his hands. "It may… be… awkward… right now." He struggles to say.

Asami's eyes narrowed. "What. Did. You. Do?" she slowly demands. Bolin leans over closer.

"I didn't do _anything_!" he near-shouts. "_She's _the one…" his voice trails off as he realizes that he was about to tell them what happened.

"What did she do, bro?" Bolin asks innocently. Mako can see through that façade though, his brother is already coming up with a theory. Mako sighs, he decides to just come out with it, seeing as his brother's imagination is far more wicked than anything he could ever think of.

"She… sort of… kissed me," he mumbles.

The two stare blankly for a minute. "And…?" Asami asks once she gets over her shock.

"And what?" he retorts.

"What did you do?" she repeats, though there's less of an edge to her voice.

Mako fumbled this answer. He couldn't even get out that he hadn't done really anything. Bolin picked up on this fact and slapped his face with his palm. "You blew it, didn't you?"

Asami smacks him on the back of the head. "You like her. She shows you that she likes you. And you somehow messed that up?"

"I was caught by surprise!"

Asami stands up. "I'm going to talk to Korra." She strides out of the room.

Bolin looks over at his brother and just starts to laugh. "Oh, just shut up." Mako mutters.

"Nice one," Bolin continues to giggle. "Although you must've done something right."

Mako's head jerks up at this. "Why do you say that?"

Bolin smiles, "Well she kept your scarf. I mean, if you had royally angered her, she would've burned it to a crisp, frozen the ashes, and then thrown them at you."

Mako picks up the small cup of tea in front of him. His head is bent so his brother can't see his smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Mako is sleeping out in the front room of Korra's house along with his brother and Korra's parents. They had given up their bed for Master Katara and Tenzin (who in turn both wound up on the ground because neither of them would take the bed). Asami was bundled up in Korra's room, where Mako had been hearing conspiratorial whispers for hours. Finally though, the house is asleep.

Mako isn't though. He has long ago given up hope of sleep. His mind won't shut up. His mind ponders questions about the Avatar, like, would they be able to get her to come back and what did that kiss mean and why was she being so stubborn and why did she kiss him… His questions kept running around this pattern for hours.

His mind is in this track when he hears Korra's door creak slowly open. He turns his head slightly to see Korra, dressed and ready to go somewhere, sneaking out of her room. He waits until she tip toes in front of him and walks out of the door before he follows her outside. He barely remembers to slide on the ridiculous amounts of clothing it takes to stay warm in this stupid part of the world.

He looks outside and sees Korra saddling up Naga. Was she running away again? He squares his shoulders and marches over to her. "Not again," he mutters to himself.

Korra hears him sneaking in the snow. He had no idea how to walk in it without sounding like a clumsy polar bear. Korra smiles at the image, but it is quickly replaced with a frown. Mako was dangerously close. She was having a hard enough time keeping herself from jumping on the next boat back to Republic City without her friends coming to see her. Now that Mako was here, things were just going to get harder. She sighed, she wants to go back, but she can't… not after what happened.

"Korra," he says, his voice muffled by his scarf.

She turns around and gives a smile that does not reach her eyes. "That's still mine," she smirked.

"A one-time lone does not equal a gift," he retorts. They both smile now, real smiles. It's almost like old times. Korra's smile fades first. She turns back to Naga and starts adjusting her saddle again.

"Fine, keep the stupid thing. You obviously need it more than I do." She finishes saddling Naga and starts to heave herself onto her dog's back. Mako's hand stops her and holds her to the ground. She hadn't realized he was close enough to do that.

"You could have it…" he whispers.

She looks up confused, but reaches for it all the same. He stops her hands. Both teenagers were aware that they were now holding hands, although neither really knew how to acknowledge it. So they stand in the snow. Korra glares at him. Mako smiles, "You could have it if you come back with us."

She shrugs him off and leans backwards on her polar bear dog. "That's not fair; you know I can't go back."

Mako splutters indignantly, "What do you mean? You not only _can _go back, you _have _to go back!"

Korra is mad now. Why doesn't anyone get it? She thrusts a finger at him and yells, "You don—"

Mako would never know what he didn't, because he caught her wrist and pulled her to him. For once in her life, Korra is speechless. He holds her in a hug and she hesitantly put her arms around him. He takes that as a cue to hold her tighter, to which she responds to by holding him even tighter. Soon there isn't room for even the tiniest grain of dust to fit in between them. And it's when she is this close to him that she cries.

She cries for her failure. She cries because she ran away. She cries because she's let so many people down. She cries because she doesn't have the slightest clue of what to do with her life anymore. She is also crying a little bit out of happiness, because she never in her life thought her friends would care so much to travel to see her.

Mako buries his face into her hair and gives her a little kiss. He has no idea what she will do. To be honest, he's freaked out that she's crying. Never in his life had he ever imagined her crying. It was stranger to him than figuring out she had parents or lived in a small house. It was also more frightening than he thought it would be. "Hey…" he says, not entirely sure what he should say.

Korra stops crying and gives a hiccupping smile and pulls back a little bit. Mako is aware that only her chest has left, the lower half of their bodies are still pressed together. He blushes at the thought.

Korra smiles at the blush. It's a real smile now. She finds herself feeling better than she has since she left Republic City. She wonders if it's the good sob fest she just went through or if it was the handsome firebender that was so close to her. She decided it was probably a good mix of both. She leans up on her tiptoes and gives him a little kiss. She doesn't go for the gold like she did last time.

Mako is stunned for a moment, but this time he is determined not to let the moment pass him by. So he pulls her back into another kiss.

It's nothing big. But it's sweet. She tastes like salt, and he wonders if that has anything to do with her tears or if she just tastes like this all the time. He tastes sweet, a bit like sugar. She wonders if he always does. They each make a mental note to further investigate this at a later time. They soon break apart and smile nervously at each other. They probably would've stayed in that position for the whole night… but Naga came over and nudged them and both tumbled into the snow.

Laughing, Korra hauls Mako up and walks over to Naga and starts to unhook her saddle. "Tomorrow, girl, we'll go on an adventure." She turns to Mako and there's a sparkle in her eyes, something that had been lacking for months. Mako grins when he sees her light up. She puts her hands on her hips and stares at him.

They are silent for a few minutes. Then Korra sighs and begins to walk back to her house. Mako hurries to catch up with her. She doesn't say anything. He hazards a question.

"So… will you come back with us?"

She stops and turns and faces him. For a moment she doesn't meet his eyes and he thinks that she's going to say no. And he almost gets very angry about that. She looks up at him and tilts her head and gives a grin. "I guess you guys have left me no choice. I mean, your lives were so meaningless without me that you traveled halfway around the world, just to get me back in it."

Mako is happy, although a bit confused. Hadn't she just been crying and kissing him? Now she was all happy and herself again. He was trying to figure this out when Korra came over to him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for coming to get me."

He shrugs, "You probably would've come back eventually."

She shakes her head. "No, I wouldn't. I needed you guys to remind me why I should come back. Asami has been talking to me all night… am I really that needed?"

He nods, "And more."

Korra looks down guiltily. "Well, then I guess I should go back with you." He smiles. It wasn't 'with you guys,' it was 'with you,' as in him. She wanted to go back to him. She turns into the house and he follows.

As he gets back to his designated spot on the floor, her smiles to himself. He wasn't a total failure. He may have failed at keeping her put, but he succeeded in getting her back. And really, he felt like that was a much bigger accomplishment.

Neither Tenzin nor Tonraq would ever really know why Korra so suddenly decided to go home. Asami liked to give herself most of the credit, while Bolin just reveled in the fact that they were all together and Katara each privately held the theory that it was a combination of friendship and a very handsome firebender. They, like they usually were, were most right.

Korra boarded a boat soon after Oogi left with Tenzin, Asami, and Bolin. They had insisted Mako stayed behind for 'protection reasons solely.' Tenzin reluctantly agreed to this as he realized Naga wasn't going to fit onto Oogi and that Korra was bound to get in some sort of trouble along the way. They left on Oogi the moment Korra and Mako were safe on a steamer.

Korra and Mako stand on the boat, hands intertwined. They wave to their friends flying off in the distance. Mako turns to her. "Just to be clear, it was me who convinced you and not Asami, right?"

Korra shrugs, "A little bit of both."

Mako huffs a bit, and Korra laughs at his frustration. "You're just going to have to let Asami brag about this."

He pouts and turns towards her. She decides she can't resist a mouth that inviting and pulls him into a kiss. He doesn't mind, although he would, for once, like to initiate the kiss.


End file.
